1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a compact and portable device designed to heat and/or cool a variety of containerized liquids, food stuffs, medical devices, etc. The present invention is directed towards such a device which utilizes thermoelectric heat transfer technology wherein two or more objects or substances may be concurrently heated and cooled by transferring heat from one of the objects. (thereby cooling it) to another object (thereby heating it). Alternatively, the present invention may be utilized to independently heat or cool an object through the use of a heat reservoir to which heat may be transferred or from which heat may be removed.
2. Description of the Related Art
The portable heating or cooling of a variety of items including liquids, food stuffs, medical items, etc. has traditionally relied on systems that exchange thermal energy with the environment. This is particularly true of devices for heating or cooling containerized liquids such as baby formula in standard baby bottles. For newborn infants, baby formula is most readily accepted if it is close to body temperature as would be natural mother's milk. For older children, not yet weaned, cooled formulas are often in order depending upon the temperature of the environment. In today's society, parents are often on the go with their children. Hence, a portable means of either warming or cooling baby formula as well as other substances is a welcome convenience for many parents. Varying degrees of portability are demonstrated in known heating or cooling devices but none disclose a thermally-closed system that does not exchange thermal energy with the environment, which would essentially offer an ability to be stored anywhere without the problems associated with an external heat exchanging surface. Further, for devices having external heat exchanging surfaces, physical discomfort can arise from having to hold such a device. Condensation on cold surfaces can be problematic and external heat exchanging surfaces must be convecting as conducting thermal energy even when the device is stored.
A variety of substantially portable devices are known to be directed to the heating of baby bottles and the like. Such devices include a flexible heating pad that surrounds a baby bottle that can be powered by connecting an adaptor structure to an automobile cigarette lighter. Also known is a manually portable refrigerating and heating unit for cooling and/or heating a multiplicity of baby bottles that includes a temperature control facility. It is also known to provide a baby bottle or like container with electrical heating elements embedded within the wall thereof, with a thermostat controlling the current to the bottle or like container from an accompanying rechargeable battery system.
Generally speaking, conventional self-contained means of heating or cooling containerized liquids provide either limited duration performance or are inconvenient. An example of such a self-contained system includes the cooling of liquids in a baby bottle by means of a pre-sealed tube of frozen non-toxic liquid that is inserted into the baby bottle. Similarly, a cooling vessel for beverages includes inner and outer walls that form a refrigerant compartment that is filled with a chilled liquid for cooling of the beverage enclosed within the inner wall.
The obvious disadvantages present in devices of the type set forth above have resulted in attempts to develop more compact and efficient devices for heating and/or cooling a variety of objects and substances. Such attempts have involved the use of compact, and electrically-driven means of transferring heat. However, such devices are somewhat limited for use in applications involving limited heat capacity and small volumes. For example, one attempt involves a cooling or warming compartment that uses thermoelectric heat transport but requires a ventilation system to reduce cool or hot spots within the compartment. Similarly, another such known device involves a thermoelectric apparatus for heating or cooling food and drink containers which must be equipped with a blower/heat exchanger.
Based on the above, there is a need in the art for a heating and cooling device that transfers heat from one object to another object to effect concurrent cooling and heating of the objects, respectively. Any such heating and cooling device would preferably incorporate the use of thermoelectric heating and cooling facilities to transfer and/or pump heat from a first containerized substance to a second containerized substance. In addition, any such heating and cooling device would preferably be structured to achieve cooling and heating with little or no net heat flux exchange with the external environment, and further, would provide a compact, self-contained, continuous means of cooling and heating liquids which is not constrained by the humidity and temperature conditions of the external environment. By providing such a device which does not require heat exchange with the environment, the result would be a device that offers convenient portability, allowing the device to be stowed in luggage, to be carried on one's person, in a bag or pack, or to be hand-carried. Finally, when cooling liquids, it is especially important to provide a good thermal sink for removal of rejected heat. Therefore, it would be ideal to provide an invention which overcomes many of the disadvantages associated with known heating and cooling devices and which incorporates the use of a self-contained liquid heat sink in the form of the liquid filled container that is to be heated. Accordingly, the present invention is preferably structured to concurrently cool and heat separate liquid filled containers, and in general, to meet the needs which remain in the art.